5.  The applicant was born in 1969 and lives in Sofia.
6.  By a judgment that became final on 30 November 2004, the Gabrovo Regional Court sentenced the applicant to three years’ imprisonment in case no. 210/00.
7.  By a judgment that became final on 13 May 2005, the Kardzhali Regional Court sentenced the applicant to one year’s imprisonment in case no. 46/04. The court deducted the period of one year during which the applicant had been held in pre-trial detention (from 10 June 2003 to 10 June 2004).
8.  On an unspecified date in 2005 the applicant submitted a request for an overall prison term for his two convictions.
9.  By decision no. 394 of 1 July 2005, the Kardzhali District Court imposed an overall prison term of three years and six months. The court found that the applicant had started serving his sentence for case no. 210/00 on 10 May 2003 and deducted the two years, two months and twenty-nine days that he had already served as of 1 July 2005. Further, as an order for the applicant’s pre-trial detention in case no. 46/04 had been in effect from 10 June 2003 to 10 June 2004, the court deducted that period as well.
10.  The applicant appealed against the decision. In a hearing held on 29 September 2005 he withdrew his appeal. As the public prosecutor’s office had not appealed against the decision, the proceedings were discontinued on the same date and decision no. 394 became final.
11.  Consequently, on the same day the Kardzhali district prosecutor instructed the prison authorities in Sofia, where the applicant was detained, to release him as he had served his overall sentence in its entirety.
12.  The prison authorities did not follow the instruction as they considered that the applicant’s overall prison term had been miscalculated. In their view, the period in which an order for the applicant’s pre-trial detention in case no. 46/04 had been in effect had been wrongly deducted. In a letter dated 7 October 2005, they informed the Sofia and Kardzhali public prosecutor’s office of their finding.
13.  On 18 November 2005 the Supreme Cassation public prosecutor’s office (SCPPO) instructed the Kardzhali public prosecutor’s office to request that the District Court interpret its decision so as to clarify whether the period of the applicant’s pre-trial detention in case no. 46/04 should have been deducted.
14.  On 2 December 2005 the request was rejected by the Kardzhali District Court, which held that its decision was clear.
15.  On the same date, the SCPPO instructed the Kardzhali district prosecutor to order the applicant’s release. It also stated that, given that the total term of the two sentences had been miscalculated, the possibility should be examined of submitting a request to re-open the proceedings in order to determine an overall sentence. A copy of the letter was sent to the applicant’s lawyer.
16.  The applicant was released from prison on 8 December 2005.
17.  In a letter of 12 December 2005 the Sofia Prison authorities informed the SCPPO that, as a result of a miscalculation of the prison term by the Kardzhali District Court, the applicant had served two months and eleven days more than the prison term determined by that court.
18.  On 10 April 2006 the Supreme public prosecutor’s office submitted a request, under Article 362 of the 1974 Code of Criminal Procedure, for the proceedings to be re-opened in order to determine an overall sentence for the applicant’s two convictions.
19.  By a final judgment of 10 October 2006 the Supreme Court of Cassation granted the request. The court held that the period in which the applicant had been held in pre-trial detention in case no. 46/04 had been wrongly deducted, as he had been serving a concurrent prison sentence in case no. 210/00.
20.  On 26 January 2007 the applicant was returned to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence.